Symbiosis
by Amarissia
Summary: Angeal and Zack reach a milestone, and explore what they are to each other. Rated M, adult content.


_Old one, second verse same as the first. Enjoy some suggestive Zangeal!_

**SYMBIOSIS**

Slash, parry, dodge, thrust. The clang of metal on metal was brisk in the cool, still air of the training room. Sparring was not like real fighting, however heated and frenzied the combat became. In this safe environment, with no real danger present, there was an elegance to the crashing of two slender blades that had no place in battle. The student was focused, light on his feet and moving with a grace that came naturally to him. The teacher was heavier but more skilled, perhaps lacking the young one's inexhaustible energy but easily compensating with endurance and patience.

It was a pleasure for Angeal to see Zack so intent on a goal, and a small smile graced his lips. It widened each time the teenager threw himself forward with a bit too much force, or bit his lower lip in concentration, or bounced on the balls of his feet when they circled each other. Exceptional SOLDIER in the making, 2nd Class prodigy at sixteen, a student any 1st Class would be proud to call his own - Zack was all these things. But he was also Angeal's puppy, and the youth and playfulness that should have annoyed him instead made his heart glow with warmth.

"Had enough?" Zack taunted, grinning, as he tried to bring his sword down and was blocked.

"You'll need to do better than that."

Undaunted, Zack dodged the next blow and came at him again, encouraged by Angeal's faint smile and faith in him. Though the boy had a tough time keeping his mind on anything for long, he was driven by his adoration of his mentor to make him proud. That was the secret he never revealed when asked how he was able to pull so far ahead of his age group, that Angeal's praise and confidence made him want to try harder. Not that it was really much of a secret. Angeal knew very well that it was their fondness for each other that bound him and Zack, even more than duty or dreams or the heroic impulse they shared.

Angeal smirked. He couldn't let his mind wander. Despite his skill, no sword was as comfortable for him as the Buster, which he would not use except in emergencies. And Zack, though a kid, was a wonder at sword-work. He had never yet disarmed his teacher, but he was improving all the time, and though Angeal would not make it easy for him, he looked forward to the day -

Time seemed to slow. Zack anticipated his next move with almost pre-cognitive accuracy, and when a heavy blade soared through the air and clattered onto the floor several feet away, the boy looked at his own right hand in dazed shock. He was still armed. Angeal was not, if you didn't count the Buster Sword in its usual spot on his back. Had he really...

"Did I really..." Zack whispered, pale blue eyes widening.

Angeal let himself smile without restraint. "You really did."

An expression of utter glee lit up the boy's pretty face. With an excited shriek, he sheathed his weapon and rushed forward to grab his mentor in a spontaneous hug. Angeal frowned on such gestures in public, but they were alone here, and he was feeling the same affectionate impulse himself. Unreservedly, Angeal wrapped his arms around Zack and held the shorter body to his chest, twining his fingers into the smooth black spikes as Zack bounced against him.

"I did it! I can't believe it!"

"_I_ can," Angeal murmured into his ear. "I am very proud of you."

Like an affectionate puppy being rewarded, Zack responded by happily snuggling tighter into Angeal's bigger, wider frame. Angeal slung one arm around the boy's waist, absently noting how slender it was, how pleasant it felt to brush his hand up and down Zack's side. The boy was lean and well-muscled, but not bulky, and the white-and-honey skin beneath the uniform was flawless and soft.

Angeal knew this from adjusting Zack's fighting stance, from testing his muscles, from stolen glances in the showers, even from picking him up a few times. Should a SOLDIER, even such a young one, be able to be this soft and smooth? And how could he smell so good, even the bit of sweat brought by exertion, as pure and inoffensive as a child's? Zack was no child...

Zack sighed with contentment against the rippled hardness of his teacher's chest. Angeal's cheek and nose were lightly nuzzling his hair, how he loved that! In public and on duty, Commander Hewley was stern and immoveable, intimidating everyone. Zack could believe that this private side of him belonged only to the two of them, and he loved that he could bring out such vulnerability and gentleness in a man he respected and loved. The fingers that combed through his hair, the arms that enclosed him in protective safety, the hand that was beneath his sweater, tracing the lines of his stomach...

Angeal felt Zack shiver, and wondered what the boy was thinking. It was not the first time there had been a touch between them that could not be immediately identified and rationalized. Once, on a long helicopter ride home, a tired Zack had crawled, half-asleep, onto Angeal's lap. Angeal had, while putting his apprentice in position to fight or stretch, let his hands linger for a moment on the spread, taut thighs. Zack liked to lay his head against Angeal's shoulder, as he was doing now. Angeal's friendly pats on the boy's ass had sometimes lasted long enough for him to squeeze, to indulge his fascination with the shapely, rounded curve. Would Zack let him do that now, and maybe more? His restless, shifting movement indicated that he wanted _something_.

Zack's fingers moved in a massaging motion on Angeal's back, his arms draped over the broad shoulders and bent at the wrist. The whole length of his body was pressed against Angeal, but he needed to be closer, he needed _more_. He had stopped the bouncing - excitement traded for this dazed, dreamy feeling - but since Angeal's chest was like a brick wall, Zack settled for pushing his hips forward. The difference in their height left him frustrated, they were not locking together as he felt they should. Beneath this annoyance, a flicker of fear. Would Angeal notice his growing arousal? And if so, how would he react?

One hand still holding that irresistable waist and the curve of hip it gave way to, Angeal rubbed the other up and down the boy's back, from nape to tailbone. He wanted to go further south, to grasp this vulnerable part of his inexperienced student and guide him as close as he longed to be. He wanted to encourage the aroused, unsteady breathing that was warming his sweater and tickling the collar bone beneath. Oh, no question anymore whether Zack consented to this, whatever _this_ was. Angeal could feel the heat and heaviness between the boy's legs, the pure need that cried out and awoke the same hunger in Angeal.

Zack choked out a gasp as a large hand brushed beneath his bottom and cradled it, made as if to lift him slightly. It brought him closer, and a larger thigh nudged between his own, and he was guided to slide over the upper leg, to ride it almost. The stimulation was so good that he quickly locked his hands together behind Angeal's neck, fearing he might collapse boneless to the floor.

"Ah, ah!" he groaned, lifting onto his toes as he was drawn further still. Angeal's lips began beneath the boy's ear and worked torturously slowly downward, encouraging the noises, growling softly in response.

"Feel good, Puppy?"

"Gaia, Gaia..." Angeal lifted his leg higher, then brought it down. "Yes, please!"

"The door isn't locked, Pup. We've got to be careful."

Zack hooked his fingers into Angeal's hair and pulled his head down, and their lips crashed together urgently. The 1st Class let the boy's tongue enter and engage his own for a few moments before asserting dominance, tilting Zack's head with his grip on the hair and plundering his eager little mouth. Zack submitted easily, though as the kiss went on and on and became no less heated, he whimpered, wanting attention elsewhere. When Angeal finally drew his face back, the boy panted, dazed from the lack of oxygen, and nuzzled Angeal's chest, thrusting forward again. A strong hand caught his hip and held it still, fingers stroking it.

"Is there something...specific...that you need?" Angeal whispered.

"Never...pegged you for a tease."

"A good teacher adapts himself to each student. Maybe you needed to be teased." Zack groaned and shook his head. "No? You need something else?"

"Don't make me say it."

"Never pegged you for a shy little wallflower."

"How do you _want_ to peg me?" Zack asked, his own voice teasing now.

"Slow, and hard, and until you can't walk," Angeal murmured, each word inciting a soft moan. "But somewhere more private than this. Think you can wait awhile?"

Hands gripped his shoulders stubbornly, and Zack growled in what was surely meant to be a threat, but came out as the playful roar of a puppy trying to sound ferocious. Angeal laughed softly.

"All right, Pup. Hold on to me and I'll take care of you."

"You'd better!"

"Don't I always?"

Zack's body relaxed a little in his arms, and the gripping hands circled his neck and clasped together, leaving one or two fingers free to play with Angeal's hair. Zack was positively snuggling against him now, trusting as he always did that he was safe and protected in Angeal's care. Angeal kissed the top of his head and put a supporting arm around the slender waist.

"Good puppy."

Holding Zack close, alert to his every noise and movement, Angeal slipped his hand between the boy's legs, drawn to the heat and stiffness beneath the warm fabric of his pants. He cupped it, traced the outline with his fingers, gave it a gentle squeeze. Zack exhaled sharply, squirmed to get closer, tried to thrust further into Angeal's loose grip.

"Slowly, Puppy. Relax. It's better slow."

Zack opened his mouth against his mentor's sweater and gasped. Angeal's hand was stroking him rhythmically, at a frustrating speed but so good, drawing this out, drawing _him_ out. It responded to Angeal's touch, as Zack himself always had, awakening to strain the cloth around it, to fill the large palm and fingers that enclosed it. Angeal was right, this was amazing slow. His senses seemed to be enhanced to a level even mako couldn't accomplish. The indescribable scent of Angeal flooding the air, the comforting hardness of the body that supported him, the fibers of the black sweater, the rush building inside...it was all so clear, so powerful, so overwhelming. He couldn't hold back much longer.

Angeal was rock-hard himself, but he could ignore it far longer than his young and hormonally-driven student. Not that Zack's moans and shifting and the swollen organ he was stimulating weren't driving him quietly insane with need. That could wait, surely Zack would be recovered and pouncing on him again within an hour. Right now, all Angeal's loving attention was on bringing Zack to the release he required, on being attentive as he always was.

Slowly, slowly, why rush something so beautiful, but Zack was so close, and Angeal greatly desired the climax as well, to see the boy surrender and shudder and collapse against him. The relationship had always been mutually beneficial, with Zack getting the encouragement and affection he needed and Angeal at last having something to pour his long-cold heart into, someone to guide and protect and share his dreams with. Now they were sharing another goal, and they were nearly there. Angeal increased the speed of his hand, just a little.

The delicious rush continued to build, faster now, and rose to envelop Zack's whole body. It swallowed him like a rising tide, but rather than drowning, he breathed in whimpering cries, and a soft voice said "Come for me, Puppy," and he let go. The tide swirled overhead and all around, beating like blood in his head and ears, and it drained into the dampness that spread into his pants, leaving a tired pleasure behind. Gasping to catch his breath, Zack buried his face in Angeal's warmth as thick arms cradled and soothed him.

A bit dazed himself by the hotness of what he'd just witnessed, Angeal held the boy close and massaged the loose muscles, pet the damp and glossy black spikes. Any concern he had about the impropriety of this was swept away by Zack's happy cuddling and his own need, which was becoming more pressing. They would hit the showers and, hopefully, make it back to his place, and go from there. He was about to suggest this plan to Zack when the door slid open, and a silhouetted figure approached as outside light poured into the dim room.

It was Commander Saegiru, a 1st Angeal knew well, and he was observing them with curiosity. "Everything all right, Angeal? You've had your phone off a long time. Something wrong with the puppy?"

Angeal made his expression reflect his usual stern calm, thankful that this was not the first time he'd been spotted with his arms full of exhausted sixteen-year-old. Saegiru was repressing a smile at the sight, but then, they always did.

"Everything is fine. He disarmed me."

"What? That's great!"

"Yes, but it took a lot out of him. I think I pushed him too hard." Zack's soft giggling was muffled in Angeal's sweater, noticed only by him.

"He's just a kid, Angeal," Saegiru said lightly, with a joking grin. "You should know better."

Saegiru ruffled Zack's hair, said "Way to go, Fair" and went out the way he'd come in. He'd meant nothing by his comment, but Angeal hesitated still, even when Zack looked up at him with a beaming smile and happiness in his pale blue eyes. Then there was Zack's hand trying to slip sneakily inside his mentor's pants, but...

"Should I know better?" he asked the boy, seriously.

"I'm glad you don't."

**THE END**


End file.
